| Espresso Tales: The Latest from 44 Scotland Street |  | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: ISIS Audio Books
Category: Book
Buy New: £52.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 2693807
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
ISBN: 0753125498
EAN: 9780753125496
ASIN: 0753125498
Publication Date: May 1, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 McYawn! December 7, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Well, I loved the first book, tube travel has never been such a pleasure! On more than one occasion I contemplated sitting on the Northern Line all the way to High Barent - it was just such a fun book to read.
I was really looking forward to Espresso Tales and couldn't wait to take the slow train to Leeds to make a good 2 hour dent in the book!
Although a enjoyed reading it I feel it lacked the passion and humour of the first in the series. I have to agree with other reviewers the Ramsey chapters left me yawning!
I would recommend reading all of McCall Smith's books although I felt this was the poorer it was still a good read.
I just hope the 3rds better than the first!
44 Scotland Street Gets A Kick September 17, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Well, it looks as though the commute is doing its job because suddenly I am falling behind in my blogging, as opposed to my reading. I've finished two books in the past week and, thus far, haven't found time to write about them. Therefore there might be a kind of double feature thing going on here.. that is, if I don't fall asleep first (hey, I have to get up early!).
I know I said I would try to wait to read Alexander McCall Smith's Espresso Tales until a trip to Edinburgh was on the horizon. But with a new job and no holiday time in sight, as well as a fairly depleted bank balance, I decided to take the plunge.
To give the author his due, when I saw the novel sitting in WH Smith, I really couldn't resist buying it. I've compared McCall Smith to J.K. Rowling previously, and the way I felt when I saw Espresso Tales can only be related to the way I feel when I catch sight of the new Harry Potter on the shelves--I felt like I was getting my friends back (yup, pretty pathetic).
Anyway, it was great to see what Pat, Bruce and the gang from 44 Scotland Street were up to. As well as the old favourites, McCall Smith introduced some new characters--namely a nudist love interest for Pat, and a Glasgow con artist whom child prodigy Bertie beats at cards.
Although I enjoyed the book and will undoubtedly read the third (and most likely last, according to McCall Smith) installment to The Scotsman serialisation, I felt that the novel was missing something. The plot antics seemed too desperate and exaggerated, and there were some characters (i.e. Ramsey Dunbarton) I could've done without knowing more about.
Nonetheless, there were parts of the book that were absolutely laugh-out-loud funny, and the characterisation was, as always, flawless. Sitting on the Tube in the baking heat, there really is no better place than 44 Scotland Street.
 Dreadfully disappointing. August 15, 2006
9 out of 21 found this review helpful
An extremely poor effort from McCall-Smith after a promising but flawed start in 44 Scotland Street. This time round the author shows that he doesn't really know where he's going with this experiment. The two strongest characters - Pat and Bruce take a back seat to less interesting ones and many comic opportunities are lost in a messy, meandering Scots middle class soap opera. Here are just a few of the faults:
- pointless dead ends eg Bertie being rescued from traffic by Scots first minister. Eh ???
- irrelevant, tiresome sermonising of Domenica - eg simplistic political judgements about Cuba
- pretentious and superficial references to the author's book learning eg Camus or Scots poetry, via the mouthpiece of Big Lou or Angus Lordie
- patronising animal psychological analysis of Cyril the dog - written for kids
- Bertie the 6 year-old's mature adult sensibilities - amusing only because they're absurd
- the tediously boring Dunbarton and his pointless insipid memoirs
Generally McCall Smith is a master of the anti-climax - Bertie's escape to Watson's college, his trouser exchange, the trip to Glasgow to retrieve the car - all promise much and go nowhere. The nudist garden party Pat goes to - i'm sure all the readers look forward to the comic potential; well don't get your hopes up!
The fundamental problem with the book is the serial format - McCall-Smith can't juggle enough balls in the air at the same time. His characters have become two dimensional caricatures, the plotting weak, padded out with self-indulgent, sentimental twaddle. It's lazy and worst of all IT'S NOT FUNNY. Bruce gets his comeuppance and even achieves a certain amount of self realisation in this volume - this is a pity because Bruce is at his arrogant best when he's being supercilious and chauvinist and obliviously obnoxious in a way that we find both funny and pathetic. Bruce, Irene and Dr Fairbairn just about earn this rubbish a single star but I believe there is yet another instalment after this. Groan. Reader beware.
 A Sequel That Tops 44 Scotland Street! July 27, 2006
15 out of 20 found this review helpful
If you haven't yet read 44 Scotland Street, I recommend that you read it first before Espresso Tales. Although Alexander McCall Smith does an excellent job of sneaking in the back story in Espresso Tales, some of the delicious humor won't fully tickle you if you haven't read the origins of the hilarious situations that have been set up for this book.
If you don't know the background of this series, you should be aware that this novel was written on a daily basis as a serial in The Scotsman newspaper. That means that the story is broken up into 105 two to three page segments . . . almost all of which have a cliff hanger element to them. Many of the segments are illustrated with black and white drawings that enlarge the story.
If you haven't read 44 Scotland Street yet, please read no more of this review.
Espresso Tales is a looser story with more extreme situations and humor. I found myself holding my sides laughing so hard that I was in pain in several places.
Here are brief updates on some of the main characters:
Bertie takes matters into his own hands in terms of trying to get free of his overbearing mother. Bertie's father awakens to the idea of helping Bertie enjoy being a little boy of six. What happens to Irene's vision of her perfect son? You'll love the answers. The visit to Glasgow is one of the finest pieces of humorous writing that I've ever read. Enjoy it!
Dr. Fairbairn comes up against his repressed past in a most revealing episode.
Pat decides to go to Edinburgh University, which pleases her father. She also meets an intriguing new man . . . with a most unusual pastime.
Domenica finds a new purpose for her life.
Big Lou has a large surprise in her life.
Matthew's life is turned upside down when he father becomes interested in a younger woman, Janis.
Bruce rouses himself from his depression over losing his job to find a partner and goes into business for himself.
Each story is, of course, much more complicated than that. Alexander McCall Smith is the master of irony and understatement. So the endings are often not quite what you might expect. Be ready for a tsunami of giggles!
As warming as a cup of cold coffee February 23, 2006
6 out of 37 found this review helpful
Espressos are usually served in small portions - I wish this one was. Dull, tedious characters. Avoid.
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